Irregular-voting device.



G. H. OO UMPAUGH.

IRREGULAR VOTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21. 1912- Patented Sept. 29. 1914.

5 SHEETSSHEET l HE NORRIS PETERS co PHOYO-LITHO WASHING TON, n. (i

G. H. OUUMPAUGH.

IRREGULAR VOTING DEVICE.

Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

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C. H. OGUMPAUGH.

IRREGULAR VOTING DEVICE.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 21, 1912.

1,1 1 1,854. Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

THE NORRIS PETERS (50., PHOTO-LH'HCL, WASHINGTON. u. c

C. H. UGUMPAUGH.

IRREGULAR VOTING DEVICE.

' APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21, 1912.

1,1 1 1,854. Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

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a i WWW"'"lw" N i i ililllllllllliililili G. H. OGUMPAUGH.

IRREGULAR VOTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21, 1912.

Patented Sept. 29, 1914 WW /woo UNITED STATEiIiTENT oFFIoE.

CHARLES HERBERT OCUMPAUGH, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

To all whom it may concern Be it knownv that I, CHARLES HERBERTOOUMPAUGH, a resident of Rochester, in the county. of Monroeand State ofNew York. have invented certain new and useful Improvements inIrregular-Voting Devices;v

and ;I, do hereby declare the following to bea-fulhclear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it pertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to irregular vote mechanism. 7

The object of the invention is to provide simple and eflicient andeasily controlled means for voting by depositing suitable ballots, beingirregular mechanism shown in a complete machine in Patent No. 1,013,680.

of the same the top of the casing being broken away; Fig. 3 is anenlarged view of a portion of Fig. 1; Fig. 4: 1s 21860131011 on llne 4,4 of Fig. 3; Flg. 5 1s a perspective view of an irregular vote box andFig. 6 a

similar view of a block forming a modified irregular vote or ballot;Fig. 7 is a broken partial perspective of the machine; Fig. 8 is apartial plan of diagrammatic character; Fig. 9 is an enlarged partialsection, the conduit closing arm being partly broken away; Fig. 10 is asimilar view showing a vote receptacle or ballot fully entered and inreadiness to be pushed into its chute by its slide bar when reset; Fig.11 is a perspective view of vote indicator resetting devicesfrom therear of the machine.

The machine herein illustrated comprises a plurality of sets of slidebars, one set for each ofiice to be filled, and as many bars in each setas there are possible candidates for the corresponding oflice. Thusthere may be ten sets of bars which would permit voting for tencandidates, and if there were four regular parties I would provide fiveslide bars in each. set, one bar being used for each party, and an extrabar for irregularl voting. The slide bars for each set preferablyinterlock so that but one bar may Specification 6f Letters Patent.

IRREGULAR-VOTING DEVICE.

Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

Application filed November 21, 1912. Serial No. 732,695.

be moved and one candidate voted for each otfice but this is notessential.

In the drawings A indicates a rectangular frame or casing withinwhichnearly all of the mechanism is inclosed. The casing has a frontplate 1, the middle of which constltutes the name plate, which isdivided lnto vertical and horizontal sections. The oflices to be filledare designated on the sections of the left hand tier or row; theRepublican candidates are posted on the sections 3 of the next tier orrow, the Democratic candidates on the sections 4 of the next row, etc.In the rear of the front plate 1 and extending nearly from end to end ofthe casing are a series of-sets of sliding bars. There should be as manysetsof bars as there are horizontal rows of divisions'on the name plateandas many bars in a set as there. are Vertical rows of. divisions. Inother words, there is a bar for each section or card on the name plate.For instance, for the next to the top row there is a set of barsconsisting of individual bars a, b, 0, (Z, c, and The bar f has a handlef extending through an opening in the. left hand section, the bar a hasa similar handle a extending through an opening in the next section tothe right, and so on, each bar being provided with a handle extendingthrough its appropriate section. The bar f in each group is theirregular-vote interlocking bar. The forward movement of a regular-votebar a, b, c, d, or 6 or of an irregular-vote bar f, is directly effectedby the voter who thereby selects his candidate. or makes it possible toselect his candidate by means of the irregularballot. The selected slidecan be returned by its handle and another slide moved at any time whilethe voter is in the booth.

At their middle and at their left hand ends the bars are sustained insuitable bearings 11, 12. At their right ends the bars are formed withrectangular extensions 13 and tapered or wedged shaped offsets 14. Thereduced portions 13 normally rest between two guide strips 15, and theyare separated by balls 16 which are sustained in guide grooves 17 Theballs 16 which separate the sets of rods from each other are held fromlongitudinal movement in grooves 17 by cotter pins 18 or other suitablefastening devices, said devices being so arranged that these balls canbereleased if desired, for examplqby withdrawing said cotter pins. Inthe ball channel between two of the balls 16 there is sufficient slackto permit of one of the slide bars being pushed to the right until itsbody portion separates the balls, the inclines 14 forcing the balls upand down from it. This operation locks the other slide bars in the setagainst longitudinal movement and thus the voter is prevented fromvoting for two or more persons for the same oflice. If, however, it isde sirable that a voter should be permitted to vote for any two namesfor one oflice in one section it may be accomplished by liberating theconfined ball 16' at the upper or lower side of the section, when anytwo slide bars in the two joined sections can be moved to the rightasthe slack in the two sections is combined. This permits a voter to votefor aplurality of candidates for the same ofiice, termed multi-candidatevoting, if desired.

At the head of each party column is an opening 10 through which projectsa lever 20 which is mounted on a shaft 21 which carries a radial blade22. When lever 20 is in its normal position the blade 22 stands to theleft of a vertical row of teeth on the rear of certain of the slidebars. Thus, as shown, the blade 22 of the lever 20 of the Republicancolumn stands at the left of the teeth 6, which teeth are on the slidebars connected with the handles a p in said column. By moving the lever20 to the right the shaft 21 is turned and all the slide barsrepresenting the Republican candidates are moved to the right, thussetting the machine for a straight Republican ticket. If it is notdesired to vote a straight ticket the straight ticket bars moved to theright, as above described, but not wanted may be moved back to the leftand bars representing candidates of other parties can be selected intheir laces. Or after moving back a slide in t e straight ticket row anirregular or unnominated candidate may be voted for. Voted irregularslides interlock but there is nothing to prevent such a slide or barbeing withdrawn (the irregular ballot being first withdrawn by thevoter) and another one substituted and hence the voter is at liberty tochange his vote before leaving the voting position before the machine.

The resetting mechanism includes a blade 29 radially arranged on avertical shaft 30. While the slide bars are being set the blade 29stands inits normal position away from the ends of the slide bars and ata sufiicient distance to allow any of the bars to be set for voting.After the'vote is registered the shaft 30 is rocked and the blade 29ismoved against the ends of the slide bars, thus forcin all the barsthat have been set into their eft hand or normal osition. Before anotherVote'is taken the s aft is rocked in the other direction and the blade29 returned 'to its normal position.- The shaft 80 is pro wheel 33 upona vertical shaft 34 which is preferably located near the middle of thecasing. Upon the upper end of the shaft 34 is a horizontal lever whichhas a jointed extension 36. This lever is operated by the voter whocomes into the booth at the rear of the machine, grasps the end of thelever and walks around the left end of the machine carrying the leverwith him until he reaches the name-plate in front, when he releases thelever and is ready to arrange his vote. This operation rocks the shaft34 approximately 90". By the medium of the wheel 33 and chain 32 it alsorocks the shaft 30 and moves the blade 29 away from the ends of theslide bars. After the vote is arranged the voter again grasps the leverand walks around the left end of the machine to the rear, rocking theshaft 34 approximately 90 and moving the resetting blade 29 against theend of the slide bars to reset them. In thusresetting the bars,including the bar f, an irregular vote-receiving opening f is closed andthe shaft 34 also moves an arm 51 to close a vote receiving chute 50.The exact distance through which the shaft 34 is rocked is notessential.

35 denotes a resetting lever shown in initial position in full lines. Inentering the booth the voter moves the lever to the situation indicatedin dotted lines and resets the voting mechanism. In leaving the booth hereturns the lever and thereby registers the vote cast in the meantime. I

39 denotes counters for the regular vote and need not be describedherein.

The handles f of the irregular voting bars f are secured to the ends ofsaid bars, the handles extending through openings f in the left handtier of sections on the nameplate. By placing such handle f at the endof its bar the irregular ballot opening will be uncovered by movement ofthe handle and bar to the right, to permit the insertion of an irregularvote. Extension of this bar to the vicinity of the registers is notessential since the irregular votes are counted in the ordinary manner,that is, ballots which have been deposited in designated receptacles,preferably midway of the machine, are counted. Such a ballot comprises aname inscribed on a paper or the like and in closed in a box D, or iswritten on a block or box D. The irregular slide is then moved to theright and the block or box is passed into the opening f at the left ofthe handle f. As the voter leaves the booth and rocks the shaft 34 thearms 51 are first withdrawn and the irregular vote counted, and finallythe resetting blade pushes the bar f to the left and forces the voteinto the chute 50. As the next voter enters the arms 51 again swingaround to close the conduits 50.

It is thus only possible for a voter to cast one irregular vote for eachoiiice as there is only room for one irregular block or box in theopening at one time, and only one name should be on the block or box,and any block or box having more than one name should be thrown out andnot counted. The chute 50 is closed by arm 51 until the slide f is resetWith the effect to push the vote into the chute. As shown in Fig. 10,the irregular slide bar Which terminates at the handle f has been movedto the locking position and the vote D inserted upon a part 50 of thechute. After the handle has pushed the vote into the chute the barhandle or the bar or both constitute a closure or cover for the mouth ofsaid chute. Although but a single receptacle 50 with corresponding chuteor conduit and conduit-stopping arm is shown it will be understood thatin practice the number will equal the number of irregular nominees. Itis obvious that the distance through Which the arms 51 are moved mightbe varied, the operating gear being suitably modified, and that theprinciple would remain the same Whether one or more chutes Were closedby an arm.

For convenience of description I have used the terms vertical,horizontal, right, left, etc., but it should be understood that the invention is not limited to these particular arrangements and directions.

The regular-vote registers or counters on the register-rack are denotedby 39. Although parts of the regular voting mechanism have beendescribed herein it is to make the construction and operation of theirregular vote devices and their relation to other parts clear, theinvention claimed herein relating solely to the irregular vote devices.

The dimensions of the irregular ballot, that is, of box D or of block D,and of the irregular vote opening are such that only one ballot can beinserted at the same time in said opening. An inserted ballot is freelyremovable by the voter up to the final act of voting.

Having described the invention What I desire to secure by Letters Patentof the United States is 1. In a voting machine, in combination, a faceplate having a vote-receiving opening, a chute communicating with saidopening, voting devices, means for resetting said voting devices, ashaft and connections for operating said resetting means, and an arm onsaid shaft extending, when the parts are in voting position, into saidchute adjacent said opening.

2. In a voting machine, in combination, a face plate having a votereceiving opening, a chute communicating with said opening, a slide barmovable adjacent said opening, means for moving said slide bar to engagea vote deposited in said opening and positively move the same therefrom,said means including a shaft, and an arm on said shaft extending, Whenthe parts are in voting position, into said chute adjacent said opening.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presenceof two subscribing Witnesses.

CHARLES HERBERT OCUMPAUGH.

Vitnesses:

C. M. CATLIN, E. L. WHITE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

